Down Time

Once again I have a couple weeks of down time and no its  not because I'm pregnant again. I've been having some rather unpleasant cramping since I had Rhiannon and have been concerned with the on  & off again spotting. I eventually had to go to the ER since the pain had gotten so bad and we weren't sure what it could be. After they did an internal ultrasound (yuck, no fun) they found that I had retained placenta from my c-section, which is almost unheard of. I went and saw my Dr the next morning to figure out a plan of action. He wanted to try some less aggressive things before we decided to do a D&C (dilation & curettage). He put me on cytotec orally for 48hrs in hopes of forcing my body to cramp and push it out.

Unfortunately, it didn't do what it was supposed to and so we then tried cytotec vaginally which was supposed to cause a lot stronger contractions, but still it did nothing. I went in for a two week follow up appt and by this time I was 7 weeks postpartum. We did another ultrasound and found that not only had I not passed the retained product, but that it actually had blood flow to it. My Dr gave me a hard time about being his first c-section to require a D&C and I told him I just had to test him in every way. We scheduled my D&C for the following Monday, which was two days ago.

                                                                Courtesy of Ehow
I had to be to the hospital at 10am and start all of the pre-surgery stuff, blood draws and IV hook up and the works. We waited for a couple hours before he finally finished a surgery he was helping with. Then it was my turn. They gave me a general anesthesia that required monitoring vs needing a breathing tube. It all in all only took about 20 mins since the product was right by my cervix making it easy to get to. Then it took sometime to come around and after a few hours I was able to go home.

I've been trying to take it easy since then, I slept most of the day yesterday and I would be doing that today except Christopher had to go to work this morning for an overtime shift and its also his first night back to work after my surgery. They cut the hours at his work from 5 12.5 hour shifts to 4 12.5 hour shifts. So, he now has Sunday-Tuesdays off. Its been a blessing this week, but we'll see how the paychecks treat us. Members of our Church having been bringing us meals, which has also been a blessing. One less thing for us to worry about. I have a week of bedrest and then from there its whatever I can manage without hurting myself. I'm finding all kinds of things that are hard to do and cause pain thanks to the surgery. Bending over has got to be the hardest especially when you have kids that require me to bend over a lot. Carrying things is painful too, but I'm managing as one must.

That's my adventure for the week. Hopefully I won't have any more for a while. Have a great day!